Architect Of eHarmony’s Matching Algorithm Talks Psychometrics & Success Of Dating Algorithms
Last week at the Singularity University’s Global Summit in San Francisco, the architect of eHarmony’s matching algorithm was interviewed about the study of human personality.
J. Galen Buckwalter was the Chief Scientific Officer at eHarmony from 1997 to 2008, where he worked with Dr. Neil Clark Warren to “develop and validate the patented process for assessing and matching couples for long-term relationship satisfaction”.
Buckwalter is now the CTO at psyML, a company that seeks to practically apply the study of psychometrics to better understand consumers using deep learning and data science, whether for the world of online entertainment, healthcare, finance or social services.
As Buckwalter explains: “Psychometrics, literally, is the process of applying numbers to human behavior. The process of psychometrics, applying it online has, to me, always seemed like a gift to psychologists. Because online, we’re able to, for the first time, apply psychometrics at scale.”
Towards the end of the video, Buckwalter addresses the current state of online dating, and whether he thinks machines and algorithms can truly find people better long-term partners.
He says: “Marriage requires the passion and the chemistry, but if you rely on that, that is not necessarily a good start for marriage. In the wild, that is the temptation, but I think there can be advantages to a more systematic exploration that online dating enhances.”
Buckwalter also speaks about the fluidity of people’s personalities, and gives examples about how psychometrics can be practically applied in various verticals.
Watch it below.
